Holy Week, mostly in the pew

Another cold dry day with clouds and sunshine. Up at eight making breakfast, and listening to BBC Radio Four Sunday Worship, which combined extracts from a contemporary open air Passion Play performed in Trafalgar Square woven together with extracts from Bach's St John Passion. I would prefer it sung in the original German to the English translation which doesn't quite capture the harsh agony of the story in a way that matches the music. Apart from the obvious time constraint on the programme, I can't see a reason for omitting the final chorale, which builds from sad reflection to end in resurrection triumph. It was well done nevertheless, a welcome change.

I drove to St German's to join the congregation for Fr Jarel's first Sunday Mass with his new congregation, a full Palm Sunday liturgy, starting with a procession from the church hall. I was pleased that he preached a brief and fitting homily for the start of Holy Week. There were over forty of us in church. I counted four clergy in the congregation, with Fr Jarel with Fr Richard as Deacon at the altar. Afterwards I introduced Basma to her new parish priest, and welcomed him myself. Afterwards over coffee we considered how to cope with the uncertainty presented by the wait to hear about official confirmation of her residence permit, when she is so keen to be baptized next Saturday. It's hard having to wait so long for certainty but from the church's standpoint, whenever she can finally say she's ready to proceed, there will be a ready response.

It was twenty to two by the time I reached home for lunch kept warm for me by my ever patient Clare. After a couple of weeks recovering from a horrible coughing virus she went to the St Catherine's Eucharist this morning. After eating, I went for a walk with my new Olympus PEN, fitted with the 14-42mm lens bought with the OMD E-M10. It's a long while since I used it, as I prefer a longer telephoto lens. The wide angle lens requires more physical movement to position yourself for the best shot. It means a change of habit to get used to this. There's only a rear screen, no viewfinder. Even so, it's a nice camera to handle.

After supper I uploaded the handful of photos, did some writing and watched 'Antiques Roadshow'. Then I found a Spanish crimmie to watch, which is the latest in a series of stories about women in prison called 'Locked up'. I didn't watch the series when it first appeared on 'Walter Presents' a few years ago as I didn't think my Spanish comprehension was adequate, but now I find I can understand most of the dialogue. The fact that some of it is mumbled means I need to check the subtitles for details. The series was shot in the Almeria desert where many spaghetti western moves were made. The story is about a group of female crooks intent on a high status jewel theft during the wedding of a narco crime boss's daughter. It's presented confusingly, switching between present and past keeping you guessing, but is meant to be a sort of homage to movies about male banditry shot in the same area. Anyway, it's a good way to get my ear attuned before I go to Nerja, that's for sure.

New new start for St German's

Another cold and sunny day, getting up late, then Saturday pancakes for breakfast. I made another attempt to fathom the Lumix TZ95 camera settings, but with little success, despite watching a YouTube tutorial on how to change settings. Too complex for me. I'm after the simplest configuration as I use most cameras on Auto setting and tweak them if I'm not satisfied with the result. At midday I cooked an early lunch in an effort to go to St German's by public transport for Fr Jarel's licensing service at two.

I caught a bus to the city centre then went to the Beanfreaks shop in Royal Arcade to pick up a supply of vitamin B3 tablets ordered by Clare, to use in an effort to reduce the rate of glaucoma advancing.  Then I went to Cardiff Camera Centre in the Morgan Arcade to buy a new battery for my TZ95. The one that came with the camera (a display model bargain) isn't holding charge for long - fifty shots instead of three hundred. When I passed by the Olympus camera display case, I saw a Pen E-PL8 model on sale and asked how much the camera body alone would cost - I have three Micro Four Thirds lenses already. At £279 I thought it was affordable. The Pen E-PL8 has been on the market seven years and is praised for its image quality and portability. I was surprised to find it was in its original box with accessories. It looks as if it's had very little use. It's the same technical specification as my ten year old Olympus OMD E-M10.1, so there's no learning curve.

I didn't anticipate buying a camera when I set out, it took me longer than I expected to complete the deal. Rather than hanging around for a bus to Adamsdown, I walked to church in just twenty minutes and got there in good time. The church nave was full to capacity, and once the forty strong choir and procession of clergy entered, the chancel and nave crossing were full too. Over three hundred people! Between the clergy in the congregation and those who wore their robes for the occasion, a quarter of those present were clergy, including a contingent of Cardiff Methodists (Fr. Jarel is an ex Methodist), and many visiting from London where he was involved in theological education at St Mellitus College. He's going to be a breath of fresh air for St German's and the Ministry Area.

I had no desire to wear ministerial robes and sit with the clergy, for the service and sat right at the back instead to enjoy the service without being on display. Singing was magnificent, and Bishop Mary spoke well, rising to the occasion with good humour. The reception afterwards in the church hall was equally crowded, and it gave me an opportunity to greet old friends and colleagues. Jarel was busy greeting his visitors, so I didn't have a chance to introduce myself to him, but it can wait until tomorrow as I intend spending most of Holy Week at St German's, hoping and praying that Basma's residence permit will be confirmed in writing this coming week so she can be baptized a week today.

It was half past four by the time I left and caught a bus to the city centre. From there I walked through Bute Park to Blackweir and then home by half past five. At sunset a nearly full moon was rising in an almost clear sky. There were just a few fluffy clouds turned pink by the setting sun. It looked as if the moon was sailing through them at a leisurely pace. Later, when it was dark there were no clouds, but a high level haze which made only a few stars and planets visible from the loft window. At least the city horizon is no longer tinged yellow by sodium street lamps. New LED lighting is installed if possible to avoid upward glare to reduce light pollution. As time goes by, hopefully with electrification of all forms of transport, atmospheric pollution will reduce allowing the sky to be more translucent to light from heavenly bodies. My much moaned about TZ95 gave me some good moon shots, with enhanced auto setting on full zoom.

Apart from writing this, I spent the evening setting up my new camera and charging the battery. Looking forward to taking it out with me tomorrow afternoon. And to end the day, I read a few more pages of my Spanish novel.